iOS 12.1.3 update fixes irritating bugs on iPhone and iPad

And HomePods too, if you have one

Apple released iOS 12.1.3, an update that doesn’t include any fun features but fixes a handful of iOS 12 problems that make your iPhone, iPad and HomePod play nicer with other devices and services.

First up is likely the most noticeable fix: in Messages, clicking on a conversation’s Details is supposed to bring up a tiled smattering of photos shared between participants...but sometimes users would just see a ton of grayed-out boxes. This bug is supposedly squashed in the update.

If you’ve got one of the latest batch of Apple phones – the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max or iPhone XR – and they’ve been disconnecting from certain CarPlay issues, that bug has been fixed too.

Finally on the phone front for iOS, some photos sent from Share Sheet had striped artifacts. That’s been fixed.

iPad, HomePod and Apple Watch problems fixed

Some users found audio distortion when using an iPad Pro to play tunes through external audio input devices – that’s been addressed.

There’s also a pair of fixes for HomePod: one issue causing the device to restart, and another that made Siri stop listening.

Last, WatchOS 5.1.3 came out, which includes general improvements and bug fixes.